A Girl Like You (Edwyn Collins song)

Collins both wrote and produced the song, and has told that it was about a "mythical girl".{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziR6sOAK2nU|title=Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You (Making Tracks, 27.02.2002)|date=12 April 2019 |via=www.youtube.com}} The Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook performed on the recording.{{cite news|first= Rick |last= Fulton |title= Sex Pistols' drummer Paul Cook rules out reunion of iconic punk band |newspaper= Daily Record |date= 11 March 2020 |access-date= 31 March 2021 |url= https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/sex-pistols-drummer-paul-cook-21670897}} The song had started out as "a more thrashy kind of guitar thing.{{cite web|first= Damien |last= Love |title= Poor old northern soul |magazine= The List |issue= 265 |date= 20 October 1995 |access-date= 7 October 2019 |url= https://archive.list.co.uk/the-list/1995-10-20/8/}}

Steve Baltin from Cash Box felt that Collins "has one of the year's more surprising hits with this very Bowie-esque song that's been all over Modern Rock for the past month." He added, "Slightly funky and very catchy, 'A Girl Like You' is a track that will get under your skin."{{cite magazine|first=Steve|last=Baltin|title=Pop Singles|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/90s/1995/CB-1995-10-07.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|date=7 October 1995|page=7|accessdate=10 November 2022}} In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton declared it as "magical", noting that here "hardcore Northern Soul meets the 1990s to delicious effect."{{cite web|first= James |last= Masterton |author-link= James Masterton |title= Week Ending June 17th 1995 |website= Chart Watch UK |date= 11 June 1995 |accessdate= 19 September 2021 |url= https://chart-watch.uk/archives/1995/week-ending-june-17th-1995}} Cathi Unsworth from Melody Maker viewed it as a "John Barry-spiked thriller" and a "little mystery", where "Collins sings with demonic relish over creepy jazz piano and fretful guitars. Overtly cool."{{cite magazine|first=Cathi|last=Unsworth|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53471231842/|title=Singles|magazine=Melody Maker|date=3 June 1995|page=34|access-date=20 January 2024|author-link=Cathi Unsworth}} A reviewer from Music Week gave it four out of five, commenting, "Ignored by the UK last November but scoring throughout the rest of Europe, the white-soul-swinging track gets a timely re-release."{{cite magazine|title= Reviews > Singles |magazine= Music Week |page= 38 |date= 27 May 1995 |access-date= 9 May 2021 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1995/Music-Week-1995-05-27.pdf}} Music & Media praised it as a "absolutely superb pop track", that "should serve as EHR's sound salvation."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-1995-01-28.pdf|title=New Releases: Albums|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=4|date=28 January 1995|page=17|access-date=14 March 2025}} Music & Media editor Robbert Tilli named it a "wonderfully old-fashioned" pop single.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1995/MM-1995-02-18.pdf|title=Edwyn Collins Rips It Up And Starts Again In The Lowlands|magazine=Music & Media|volume=12|issue=7|date=18 February 1995|page=12|access-date=14 March 2025}}

Keith Cameron from NME called it a "flared nostril Motown-patented stomp".{{cite magazine|first=Keith|last=Cameron|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53474769295/|title=Singles|magazine=NME|date=3 June 1995|page=45|access-date=20 January 2024}} Another NME editor, Mark Sutherland, wrote, "So while, to us, the chart success of 'A Girl Like You' may seem but a curious sideshow to the whole Britpop fandango, to Edwyn it must surely be glorious vindication: proof positive that the world will listen. Even if Belgium, where 'A Girl Like You' reached Number One FIRST time around, has to lead the way." Sutherland also felt that its "mix of pop classicism and indie off-kilterness is a great deal more at home in a Top 40 where something as bonkers as Robson & Jerome rules the roost."{{cite magazine|first=Mark|last=Sutherland|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/nothingelseon/53515349393/|title=Long Play|magazine=NME|date=22 July 1995|page=46|access-date=10 February 2024}} Charles Aaron from Spin commented that here, Collins "opens his throat (and maybe even his heart), crooning with what sounds like aching conviction, "You've made me acknowledge the devil in me / I hope to God I'm talkin' metaphorically." The production is irresistibly off-beat with Spectorish drums, tinkling vibes, laconically searing fuzz guitar and squishy faux-turntable scratches. Plus, I love the way he pronounces "protest singers" (rhymes with "Miss Otis lingers")."{{cite magazine|first=Charles|last=Aaron|title=Singles|magazine=Spin|date=September 1995|page=114|accessdate=28 January 2023|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ra1GApGshtQC|author-link=Charles Aaron}}

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• CD single

1. "A Girl Like You" – 3:59
2. "A Girl Like You" (Macramé remix by Youth) – 5:42

• French CD single

1. "A Girl Like You" – 3:59
2. "Out of This World" (Remixé par St-Etienne) – 4:58

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• CD maxi

1. "A Girl Like You"
2. "Don't Shilly Shally"
3. "Something's Brewing"
4. "Bring It On Back"

• Cassette single

1. "A Girl Like You" – 3:59
2. "If You Could Love Me" (acoustic version)

• CD maxi

1. "A Girl Like You"
2. "If You Could Love Me" (acoustic version)
3. "Don't Shilly Shally" (spotter's 86 demo version)
4. "You're on Your Own"

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1994|certyear=1995|certref=}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|type=single|artist=Edwyn Collins|title=A Girl Like You|award=Silver|certyear=1995|source=infodisc}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|artist=Edwyn Collins|title=A Girl Like You|award=Gold|relyear=1995}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Edwyn Collins|title=A Girl Like You|award=Gold|relyear=2011|certyear=2021|id=194-815-1|access-date=30 November 2021}}

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The song appeared on the soundtrack of the 1995 film Empire Records{{cite magazine|first= Carrie |last= Borzillo |title= A&M soundtrack plants hopes with the Gin Blossoms |magazine= Billboard |date= 5 August 1995 |volume= 107 |issue= 31 |page= 103 |issn= 0006-2510 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xwsEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22girl+like+you%22&pg=PA103}} and on that of 2003 film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.{{Cite web |title=Various - Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle - Music From The Motion Picture |url=https://www.discogs.com/master/422851-Various-Charlies-Angels-Full-Throttle-Music-From-The-Motion-Picture |access-date=8 January 2023 |website=Discogs}} It was featured in season 1, episode 5 of Lucifer ("Sweet Kicks"),{{cite web|title= Listen to Edwyn Collins 'A Girl Like You' from 'Lucifer' |website= Leo Sigh |date= 24 February 2016 |access-date= 5 October 2018 |url= https://leosigh.com/listen-to-edwyn-collins-a-girl-like-you-from-lucifer/}} and in the 2022 horror film Goodnight Mommy. It plays over the end credits in season 5, episode 7 of The Crown.{{cite web|title= The Crown No Woman's Land|website= IMDb |access-date= 3 January 2023 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12696298/?ref_=ttep_ep7}} Sabrina Spellman and her date Chad Corey Dylan dance to this song in season 1, episode 5 of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ("Dream Date"{{cite web|title= Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Dream Date|website= IMDb |access-date= 5 July 2023 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0693041/}}) as well as Ted Lasso in Season 3. It is used in the pilot episode of The Decameron.{{cite web|title= The Decameron The Beautiful, Not-Infected Countryside|website= IMDb |access-date= 25 July 2024 |url=https://imdb.com/title/tt21841610/?ref_=ttep_ep1}}

• Ultratop 50 number-one hits of 1995

{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|HKbI9Eqykz4|Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You (audio)}}

{{Edwyn Collins|state=expanded}}

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Category:1994 songs

Category:1995 singles

Category:Edwyn Collins songs

Category:Songs written by Edwyn Collins

Category:Black-and-white music videos

Category:Number-one singles in Iceland

Category:Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles

Category:Setanta Records singles